Dumpster diving is intimidating for many (not to mention illegal). Freecycle is great, but old magazines or tin can lids don't seem worthy of mass emailing.

Many cities have specific locations (often next to/part of recycling drop-offs) for sharing free stuff.

The puruser still finds treasure at her own risk, but doesn't have to sort through rotting veggies to find wood scraps for a home improvement project.

Bins can be labeled clearly to make organization easy.

We don't all need to own our own lawnmower, tiller, weed whacker and gardening tools, do we?  We buy these things and keep our own because we think that's convenient, but how much harder would it be to walk down the street to a neighborhood tool shed where you could "check out" a well-maintained yard appliance for a few hours, and for much less than the cost of buying it yourself?  Sounds good, doesn't it?

Time banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It's a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.